Media Releases

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant

"The greatness of a nation and its' moral progress can be judged by the way in which its' animals are treated" - Mahatma Gandhi

"Cruelty to animals is always the sign of a weak and little mind, whereas we invariably find really great men distinguished by their humanity" - George Q. Cannon

"What is even more serious than the wrongs inflicted upon dumb animals is the habit of wrong doing, for doing wrong to animals is but a stepping stone to the doing of wrong to our fellowmen" - Joseph F. Smith

Why it is important that children learn about animal welfare

More and more evidence shows the way people treat animals is linked to the way they treat others. We know that children who 'get away' with hurting animals often go on to commit horrific acts of violence against people.
If a child cannot relate to or does not care about the suffering of a helpless animal it is almost certain they will not care about or emphasise with the suffering of others.

Some of the clearest links between animal cruelty and human violence lies in the case histories of many of the 20th century's most infamous criminals.*

• Mass-murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer killed neighbors' pets and impaled a dog's head on a stick.

• Patrick Sherril, who murdered 14 co-workers and then killed himself, stole pets, then tied them up and allowed his own dog to mutilate them.

• Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," shot arrows into boxes of trapped cats and dogs.

• Brenda Spencer, who fired 40 shots into a crowd of children, murdering 2 and wounding 9, had a history of setting the tails of neighborhood cats and dogs on fire.

• Edmund Emil Kemper III, who murdered his mother and 7 other women, used to abuse cats and dogs.

• Carol Edmund Cole, who murdered 35 people, admitted that his first violent act was strangling a puppy.

• Richard Allen Davis, kidnapper and murderer, doused cats with gasoline and set them on fire.

Studies of prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early records of animal cruelty.

There is also a high correlation between family violence and animal cruelty. A study in 1983 of New Jersey families referred to youth and family services for reasons of child abuse reported that 88% of cases had at least one member of the household who physically abused animals.

An English researcher found that 83% of families reported for animal abuse also had children listed at high risk of abuse or neglect.

Whangarei SPCA believes it is vital we teach children the importance of caring for animals because helping the animals also helps us to become better people.


*This information was compiled by Eleanor Shelburne DVM of the Portland Veterinary Medical Association's animal welfare committee